~PM Romeo Marlin not putting her best foot forward.~
PHILIPSBURG:P--- Projects that are to be financed by the World Bank Trust Funds are not moving forward even though the Government of St. Maarten received the first tranche of the funds which amounts to $55M.
SMN News learned that Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin is not doing what is necessary to get these projects off the ground. Already the Dutch Government expressed concerns over the stagnation of the projects that are to be financed by the Trust Funds. The Dutch Government through the Audit Chamber of the Netherlands has requested an investigation into the cause of the hold up on projects.
Recently, Members of Parliament in a public meeting expressed their dissatisfaction that the projects are not moving as expected, in particular, the upgrading of the hurricane shelters which should have been ready since the beginning of the 2018 hurricane season.
Residents at large are also complaining about the lack of progress and to date do not have an idea when any of the projects will begin or completed.
It must be noted that the World Bank Projects falls directly under the responsibility of the Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin who is responsible for overseeing these projects. Concerns that are being made is that the funds are being used up for consultancy fees rather than assisting the residents of St. Maarten that are still living under sea of blue tarpaulins as was highlighted by the current leader of government and Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger a few months ago in Parliament.
In a recent press release it was mentioned by the Prime Minister that repairs would start on projects such as the Police Station and various other public buildings but to date there has been no progress.
